Method of and apparatus for separating leaves



J. B. HARRISS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LEAVES.

APPLICATlON FILED JULY 10.1916.

7 Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

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METHQD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LEAV ES. APPLICAHON FILED .I ULY 10,1916.

1,328,733. Patented Jan. 20', 1920.

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Svwewfoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

JAMES 3'. names, or NEwAnmnEw JERSEY.

nnrnon or AND arrzmarus FOR snraaarmo LEAVES.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, James B. Hamuss, a citizen of the United States, residing at T50, Parker street, Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new, and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Separating Leaves, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for separating leaves or sheets from a package of the same, and has particular application to the separation of tobacco leaves.

As is well known to those familiar with the tobacco industry, many of the higher grades of leaf tobacco, such as Turkish tobacco, are put up in the form of packs or cakes, each of which consists of a number of tobacco leaves superimposed or placed one upon the other, the individual leaves constituting the pack cohering or sticking together. A number of these packs are assembled in the form of a bale, and in this shape reach the manufacturer. "In order to utilize these packed leaves, as for instance in making a blended tobacco mixture, it is necessary to separate the individual leaves of the pack, and this involves a tedious, tiresome and expensive process, as it is the present practice to separate the leavesby hand, the workmen pulling the leaves one at a" time from the pack.

In the present instance, it is my purpose to obviate this tedious and expensive work of hand-separation by providing a method and an apparatus by means of which the separation may be accomplished mechanically and more economically with greater rapidity and just as thoroughly as if done by hand.

In the practice of my invention each pack of cohering leaves is preliminarily subjected to a flexing or bending action to loosen the leaves of such pack and then such leaves are separated one at a time from the bulk or bodyof the pack, both the loosening and the separation of the leaves being accomplished by mechanical devices. I

I have herein shown and described one form of apparatus or machine embodying my invention and by means of which the method may be practised, but I wish it to be understood that this apparatus or machine is merely illustrative, as the invention isby no means limited to all the details of Specification of Letters l'atent.

' Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

Application fllcdJuly 10, 1916. Serial No. 108,519

construction, or the particularform and arrangement of elements shown herein.

l\ y invention consists in the construction, combinations and arrangement of arts and in the improved method set forti in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my invention, and illustrating the mechanism for preliminarily loosening the leaves of the cohering pack and the associated mechanism for separating the individual leaves from the loosened pack.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the mechanism for flexing or bending the pack of cohering leaves to loosen the same.

Fig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of the separating mechanism for separating the individual leaves from the pack.

Fig a is a vertical sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the drumand a portion of the beveling or leaf obstructing device cooperating therewith.

Before entering scription of my invention I will briefly state that it embodies, among other features, suitable mechanism through which the relatively thin packs of cohering leaves are passed, the packs in their passage through such mechanism being subjected to a flexing or bending action preferably in two directions, to preliminarily loosen the leaves of the packs. After passing through the mechanism for loosening the leaves of the packs, such packs are carried to a traveling separator member upon a portion of which suction is exerted, while another portion of the traveling member is free from the influence of such suction. The cakes or packs of tobacco are brought into juxtaposition to this traveling member preferably by suitable mechanical means, such as a conveyer, although if desired the operator may place the pack in proper position relative to the traveling member, by hand. In the course of its travel the portion of the member upon which suction is exerted will move past the pack of leaves and the latter will be draivn into contact with and against the surface of such member, of course adhering to the surface. As the member continues its travel, carrying with it the adherinto a detailed de- I ing pack, the latter is brought into contact with or strikes against suitable baflle or obstruction, with the result that the rtion or leaves of the ack which are not irectly or strongly sub ected to the suction action will be separated or pulled away from those leaves which are directly subjected to the suction action and will then fall free from the traveling member. In other words, the leaf or leaves of the pack which lies or lie directly against the face of the traveling member will be held thereon by the suction while the remaining leaves or bulk of the pack will be torn free or loose and will drop away from the traveling member, to be subsequentl picked up again by the latter, as

.hereina er described. As the member continues its travel with the leaf or leaves held thereon by suction, it will reach a position wherein suction is no longer exerted and the leaf or leaves will either fall from the member by their own weight, or may be removed therefrom by any preferred means, such as a brush, an air blast, or through any other agency. The separated leaves, after falling or bein removed from the traveling member, may be carried by a suitable conveyer, if desired, to a selected point or place.

The mechanism for flexing or bending and thus preliminarily loosenlng the leaves of the pack to render them more easily separable by the separator mechanism S, is designated as a whole by the letter F, and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,'comprises in its preferred form a bed 6 having a series of arallel grooves g therein which receive the lbwer series of rollers l, the upper series of cooperating rollers being shown at 2!. These rollers are arranged in pairs, and of course have the ends of their shafts rotatably mounted in suitable bearings (not shown), and the rollers of each-pair are mounted to permit the passage therebetween of the relatively thin packs of cohering tobacco leaves, which packs are conventionally illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In the present instance there are six upper rollers and six lower rollers, three of the upper rollers having spaced circumferential beads or rings 1- thereon which are disposed opposite corresponding grooves r' in the cooperating rollers of the lower series.

Likewise three of the lower rollers have spaced circumferential beads or rings 1' which are disposed opposite corresponding grooves 1" in the three cooperating upper rollers. The two series or sets of rollers are driven in any suitable manner such as by endless chains 0 running over sprockets s at the ends of the shafts of the rollers, such a form of drive being well known.

The packs of cohering leaves are fed into the flexing or bending mechanism, at that end thereof which is farthest from the separator mechanism S, and passing between the series or sets of rotati flexed or bent first in one irection by the first three pairs of rollers and then in the opposite direction by the second three pairs of rollers, this flexing or bending in op 0- site directions being caused by the fact t at the cooperating beads and grooves of the first three pairs of rollers are in reversed relation to those of the second three pairs of rollers. This flexing or bending of the pack loosens the leaves but does not comletely separate them, and each ackof eaves as it is thus loosened passes rom between the rollers and drops upon the conveyer C.

t will be understood, of course, that where the cohesion of the leaves of the origirollers will be nal pack is suiiiciently low, this flexing or bending action may provide more or less separation ofthe pack leaves. I

In the form of invention shown herein, this conveyer C for carrying'the packs of leaves, P, to the separator mechanism S is so arranged relative to the separator mechanism that the individual leaves indicated at L may, after they have passed through the separator, be carried by this same conveyer to a selected point or lace of discharge,-

The separator meciianism S in the form shown herein is provided with a power shaft 1, mounted on bearings 2, carried by the standards or pillars 3, this shaft being driven in any suitable manner, as by belt 4 traveling over the pulley 5 which is fast with the shaft, the usual loose pulley 5' also begig provided.

unted upon and rotating with the shaft 1 is a drum head 6, provided with an inwardly extending circular flange 7, to which is bolted, as at 8, a drum barrel 9, having a series of suitably arranged perforations 10.

provided throughout the body thereof. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 3 that one end of the drum barrel 9 is closed by the head 6, with which said drum barrel rotates.

The opposite end of this drum barrel 9 is in turn closed by a stationary drum-head 12 having an inwardly extending circular flange 13 which fits within the end of the drum barrel. Thus it will be understood that while one of the heads of the separating drum rotates and carries with it the perforated drum barrel, the other head thereof is stationary. The interior of the drum is divided by a suitable partition 14 into what might be considered as two chambers shown at 15 and 16, and for the sake of convenience the chamber 15 may be termed the suction chamber and chamber 16 may be termed the pressure chamber inasmuch as this latter chamber is subjected to either atmospheric pressure or, if desired, may be subjected to pressure above atmospheric pressure. A suction conduit 17 is provided, one end of which opens through the stationary drum-head '12 and communicates with the suction chamber 15, as shown at 18 in Fig. 2. the opposite end of this conduit 17 being connected with a suitable suction-producing mechanism (not shown). \Vhen suction is exerted in the chamber 15 of the revolving drum, a pack of the leaves, which may happen to be positioned near enough to the suction chamber to be subjected to the action of the suction, will be drawn against the drum-barrel and carried around therewith, as shown in Fig. 2. The suction openings or perforations 10, are preferably arranged close together, so that the leaf to be separated will be subjected to suction over substantially the entire surface thereof and held firmly against the drum with the result that such leaf will'not be likely to be torn or mutilated when the pack strikes the battle or obstruction D. The complete pack of leaves W1ll thllS adhere to the drum until it is brought into contact with a suitable obstruction or baf fling device D, which is shown in Fig. In the present instance this device is in the nature of a comb, embodying as it does, a bar 19, extending parallel with the axis of the drum and having teeth or pins 20, the free ends of which terminate adjacent the drum barrel so that there is just suflicient clearance provided between the barrel and the points of the teeth or pins to allow a leaf or two on and nearest the face' of the.

barrel to be carried past the teeth or pins without being pulled or scraped from such barrel. Thus, as the pack of leaves is carried around it will come intocontact with this baflling device D and all of the leaves except, for instance, the one in immediate cont-act with the drum barrel will be scraped or pulled from the drum, as shown in Fig. 2, and the bulk of the pack will fall back onto the conveyer. Of course it will be understood than any suitable form or type of bafiiing device may be employed for removing the bulk of the leaves from the traveling drum-barrel, and therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the particular structure shown herein.

After the traveling drum passes the battle or obstruction D it carries the adhering and now separated leaf to the other side of the partition 14, or to the pressure suction of the drum, so that it thus brings the leaf to a position where there is no longer any suctional influence to hold such leaf against the drum barrel. permitted to fall by gravity from the drum onto the conveyer, or it may be blown therefrom by the blower pipe 21, which conducts air under pressure into the pressure chamber 16, this blower pipe opening into this chamber through the stationary drum-head 12 and is rovided with perforations 22, through which jets of air may be discharged Therefore the leaf may be outward against the perforated surface of the drum-barrel to blow the leaf or leaves from the latter. If desired, a leaf-removing device in the nature of a brush 23, mounted upon shaft 24, may be employed, and this brush may be driven by a suit-able belt 25,

' which is in turn driven by the belt pulley 26 mounted upon the power shaft 1. It is to be understood that the brush is arranged sufficiently close to the path of the traveling drum-barrel to sweep or brush the individual leaves from the latter so that each leaf will fall onto the conveyer C. The frame of conveyor C is preferably provided with a partition or bar 26 extending transversely of the conveyer head, this bar being of suflicient height to substantially fill the s ace between the bottom of the drum and t e travshown herein, the drum is presumed to ro-- tate in the direction of the arrow, as in F i 2, while the conveyer also travels in the d1- rection indicated by the arrow applied thereto in said figure. The packs of leaves previously loosened by the flexing or bending mechanism are carried by the conveyer until they reach a position beneath the drum and adjacent the partition or bar 26. The pack, when it reaches the position nearest the partition 26', will come within the influence of the suction exerted in the chamber 15 of the drum and will be carried upward and around with the drum barrel, being held thereto by the suction exerted through the perforations in the barrel as heretofore mentioned. As the packstrikes the battling device D, the bulk of the pack is pulled away from that individual leaf which is adhering directly to the surface of the barrel, and such bulk will fall back onto the conveyer, ready to be again carried to within range of the influence of the suction exerted within the drum, as the operation of the device is obviously continuous. The individual leaf which has been separated from the pack is now carried around on the drum until it reaches the pressure section thereof where it is removed, as before described, by suitable means such as the brush or an air ressure device, or, if desired, may be alowed to fall from the drum by gravity. Any suitable blower or other pressure device may be connected to the pipe 21 for supplying air pressure to the chamber 16.

The operation of the apparatus, of course,

. utilized to remove or separate the front or face leaf from the pack.

Furthermore, the invention is not limited to an apparatus having as an essential part thereof a revolving element, such as the perforated drum-barrel, as any other structure suitable for carrying out the functions herein attributed to this element might be employed. I believe myself to have been the rst to have devised an apparatus and a method by means of which the "individual leaves of a sticky, cohering, or adhering mass of leaves may be separated mechanically, and, therefore, while I have herein.-

shown and described one particular embodiment of the invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to all the 'recise details of construction as herein set orth, as modification and variation may be made without departing from the spirit of I the invention and exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

' What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for separating faciall cohering tobacco leaves from a ack ofsucli leaves, embodying means "for a vancing the pack bodily inan edgewise direction, and means operable upon the pack during such advancing movement for stripping leaves port, means for causing a from the pack.

2. An apparatus for separating facially cohering tobacco leaves from a ack of such leaves, embodying means for a vancing the pack bodily in an edgewise direction, and 'means,located adjacent thepath of movement of the ack for engaging an advancing edge thereo and operable to cause a separation of the leaves of the pack. v

3. An apparatus for separating the facially cohering tobacco leaves from a pack of such leaves, comprising a traveling support, means for causing a face of a leaf pack to cling to said support so that the pack will move'edgewise therewith, and means for separating eaves from the pack by a peeling action during such movement.

4. An apparatus for separating the fa cially cohering tobacco leaves from a pack of such leaves, embodying a travelin supace of a lea -pack to cling to said su port so that the pack will move. edgewise t erewith, and means arranged to engage an edge of the pack during movement thereof whereby adjacent cohering leaves of the. pack will be torn apart.

5. An apparatus for separating the fa cially coher ng t obacco leaves of a pack of such leay es/embodying means for advancing thwpack bodil in an edgewise direction,/means operap e during such pack advanbe for flexing thepack 'to preliminarily lodsen the leaves, and subsequently acting means for separating the loosened leaves from the pack.

6. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a series of grooved rollers cooperating with a series of beaded rollers said rollers being arrangedin pairs and between which rollers the pack of leaves are adapted to be passed, said pack being flexed or bent in its passage between the rollers to loosen the leaves of such pack,

and mechanism for subsequently separating the individual leaves of the loosened pack.

An apparatus for separating the facially cohering tobacco leaves of a pack-of such leaves, embodying means for advancing the pack bodily in an edgewise direction, means operable during such pack advance for engaging opposite faces of the pack to flex the latter in at least two directions to preliminarily loosen the leaves of the pack, and subsequently acting automatic'means for stripping the loosened leaves from the pack.

8. n an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering ack of leaves, a travelingsupport for the eaves,'means for causing a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to the support, and means adapted in the travel of the support to remove a portion of a pack of leaves while the support continues its travel carrying with it the remainder of such ack.

'9. n an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling support for the leaves, suction means for causing a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to the support, and means adapted in the travel of the support to remove a portion of the pack of leaves while the support continues its travel carrying with it the remainder of such pack.

10. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling support for the leaves, means for causing a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to the support, means adapted in the travel of the support to remove a portion of the ack of leaves while the support continues itstravel carrying with it the remainder of the pack, and means adapted to subsequently remove the remainder 'of' the pack of leaves from the support. 7

" 11. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling support for the leaves, suction means for causing a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to the support, and an obstruction device arranged adjacent the support and adapted to contact with thepack of leaves ing support for the leaves, suction means for causing a ack of the cohering leaves to adhere to t 1e support, an obstruction device arranged adjacent the traveling support and adapted to contact with the pack of leavesadhering to the support'to remove a portion of such pack of leaves, said support continuing its movement past the obstruction de-v vice carrying with it the remainder of the pack of leaves, and means for subsequently.

removing the remainder of the pack of leaves from its support.

13. In an apparatus for separatlng the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling support having a suction sectionand a non-suction section, means for subjecting the suction section of the support to the action of suction to cause a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to such suction sec tion, and means adapted to remove a portion of the pack of leaves while the pack is adhering to the suction section of t e support, the remainder of the pack being carried to the non-suction section of the support. 14. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling drum divided into a suction section and a non-suction section, means for exercising suction upon the suction section of the drum to cause a pack of the cohering leaves to adhere to the drum, and means for removing a portion of the pack while the latter is adhering to the suction section of the drum, the remainder of the leaves being carried to the non-suction section of such drum.

15. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a travel-- ing drum divided into a suction section and a non-suction section, an obstruction arranged adjacent the suction section of the drum for removing a portion of a pack of leaves adhering to such suction section, and means arranged adjacent the non-suction section of the drum for removing a portion of the ack of leaves therefrom.

16. n an, apparatus for separating the leaves of a eoherifig pack of leaves, a travelin dr jtm having a perforated barrel, a parti ion within the druni barrel dividing the latter into a suction chamber and a nonsuction chamber, a leaf-removing device arranged adjacent the suction chamber of the barrel anda leaf-removing device arranged adjacent the non-suction chamber of the barrel.

17. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling support for the leaves, means for bringing a pack of leaves into juxtaposition relative to the traveling support, means for 'tioned portion of the pac causing the pack of leaves to adhere to the support and means adapted in the travel of the support to remove a portion of the pack of leaves while the support continues its travel, carrying with it the remainder of the pack of leaves.

18. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering ack of leaves, a traveling support for the l caves, conve ing mechanism for bringing a pack of eaves into juxtaposition to the traveling support, suction means for caiising the pack of leaves to be drawn from the conveyer to the support, and means adapted in the travel of the support to act in opposition to the suction means to remove a portion of the pack of leaves from the support'lwhile the latter continues its travel carrying with it the remainder of the pack of leaves;

19. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling perforated drum, a conveyer movin beneath said drum adapted to convey a pac of coherin leaves to the drum, suction means for rawing the pack of leaves from the conveyer onto a section of the travelin drum, an obstruction device arranged a jacent the drum for removing a portion of the pack of leaves in opposition to the suction exercised on, such pack of leaves, said drum carrying a portion of the pack of leaves past the obstruction device, and means for subsequently removin the last menof leaves from the drum.

20. In an apparatus for separating the leaves of a cohering pack of leaves, a traveling perforated drum divided into a suction chamber and a pressure chamber, a conveyer for carrying a pack of leaves into juxtaposition to the suction chamber, and from which conveyer the pack of leaves is drawn onto the drum by suction exerted within the suction chamber, a baffle located outside of the suction chamber of the drum and adapted to remove a ortion of the pack of leaves carried by the rii m, the remainder of said pack of leaves bein carried by the drum past said baflie to t e pressure chamber of the drum, and means for removing such remainder of the pack of leaves from the pressure chamber of the drum.

21. The herein described method of separating the faciall cohering tobaccoleaves of a pack of suc leaves, the steps which consist in advancing the pack bodily in a travel path, imposing bending pressure upon opposite faces of the pack at different points during suchadvance to flex the pack and thereby preliminarily loosen the leaves, and subsequently manipulating the pack to cause a separation of the loosened leaf layers.

22. The herein described method of manipulating packs of facially cohering tobacco leaves to loosen the leaf layers, the

such advance to flex the loosen the leaves thereof. I

23. In the manipulation of packs 'of fa- .cially cohering tobacco leaves to separate a pack portion, comprising a leaf or a small number of leaves from a pack, the method ofmanipulating the pack which consists in moving the pack bodily edgewise in a predetermined travel path, and obstructing the path to provide relative separating movements between the pack and the portions to be separated.

24. In a machine for separating the facially cohering leaves of a pack of tobacco leaves, pack advancing and flexing mechanism, comprising opposed moving elements arran ed to embrace opposite faces of packs fed e gewise therebetween, and means eooperatively associated with said moving elements for bending-or flexing the packs during advancing movement to loosen adjacent pack leaf layers.

25. In a machine forseparating the facially cohering leaves of a pack of tobacco leaves, pack advancing and flexing mecha nism, comprising opposed moving elements arranged to embrace opposite faces of packs fed edgewise therebetween, means cooperatively associated with said moving elements for bending or flexing the packs during advancing movement to loosen adjacent pack leaf layers, and subsequently acting means operable upon the packs for separating the loosened leaves.

26. In apparatus for se arating tobacco leaves from a cohering pack of such leaves, a travelling carrier, means for positioning an ex osed face of the pack in temporarily aflixe ack durin carrier movement, an means in the trave path of the positioned pack for limiting advance movements of unaflixed pack portions, whereby separation between relation to the carrier to slgiport a affixed and unaflixed pack portions will be- 28. In the treatment of packs of tobacco leaves wherein the leaves are" facially but separably united, means for supporting and I advancing the pack, and means for flexing the pack while so supported to loosen the leaves thereof. 1 e

29.",A machine for separating packs of adhering tobacco leaves comprising means arranged to engage the pack of leaves on one side and means arranged to engage'the pack of leaves on the opposite side, the said means being adaptedto flex the pack so as to loosen the leaves from each other.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JAMES B. HARRISSQ 

